Kibale Forest National Park

Why chimpanzee trekking starts here

You will also pass through territory for red colobus and l'Hoest's monkeys. Kibale holds East Africa's largest populations of both. Add red-tailed and blue monkeys, black-and-white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, olive baboon, and potto, and a single forest walk can turn into eight primate species before lunch.

Where the walks happen

Kanyanchu River Camp sits at the center of the park and runs the main trailhead. Guided walks start at 2 p.m. and run about three hours. Night walks leave at 7:30 p.m. for two hours, and the torches pick out bush babies, pottos, tree hyrax, and the occasional civet or serval.

Sebitoli, in the north, is the quieter second base. Fewer visitors pass through, and the walks here favor black-and-white colobus, red colobus, blue monkeys, and vervets, alongside the Mpanga River.

What else lives in the forest

Kibale carries 70 mammal species and 375 bird species, including the Green-breasted Pitta and the African Grey Parrot. An elephant population near 500 moves through the forest, along with buffalo, leopard, golden cat, and duiker. You won't see most of the ground animals easily. The forest is thick, and that is part of what protects them.

Two wetlands sit just outside the park and reward a half-day each: Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, run by the local community, with 138 recorded bird species and eight primate species; and Kihingami Wetland, near Sebitoli, with black-and-white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, red colobus, mongooses, and otters, plus walks through the surrounding tea estates.

A cultural walk worth adding

KAFRED, the community organization behind Bigodi, runs a guided walk through the Magombe swamp boardwalk and into the village beyond. You will meet the Batooro community, visit the school KAFRED built, and hear the "Village of Two Tribes" story, the account of the Bakiga settling among the Batooro in the 1950s. Money from the walk goes to sanitation, health, and education in the community, not to a marketing budget.

When to go

Rain falls hardest from March to May and September to November, with roughly 1,700mm a year. Temperatures run 14 to 27°C, warmer in the south where the rift valley floor traps heat. Trekking runs year-round. Bring rain gear regardless of the month.